When asked if Wendy’s new point-of-sale technology includes EMV card readers, company spokesman Bob Bertini said most stores have yet to install the readers. That would put Wendy’s more than a year behind the credit card industry’s deadline for full compliance with the new rules.
The burger chain is not alone. Consulting firm The Strawhecker Group, which focuses on payments, found that of 90 companies representing about 4 million merchants, nearly 40 percent of respondents had fallen behind in their EMV reader implementation plan. “A lot of key stakeholders in the EMV migration were not prepared,” said Jared Drieling, Strawhecker’s business intelligence manager.